Eyes of the Lost
by Mistran
Summary: Final continuation of Eyes of the Empire. Decades after the defeat of the Kultrian Collapse, the Galactic Alliance unearths an ancient city. Years later, a Special Forces team is sent in to investigate a series of energy bursts.
1. Prologue: Unearthing

**Telos Mining Platform X51, 117 Years After the Battle of Yavin**

Joc Temahn was finishing up for the night as the clock neared morning. About to shut down the console, he noticed a result from the mineral surveys that hadn't turned up before. He turned around and hurried out of the door.

"Quickly, get Director Fah'ret. It's an emergency," Joc ordered the guard outside his room, "I think we may be unearthing an ancient artifact"

The Guard nodded and ran off to the turbo lift to report Joc's findings to the Director of the facility.

--

_**The Latosh,**_** Over Corellia**

For his courage in the fall of the Collapse, Amanda Erovil had a Corellian Frigate named after General Latosh following his death. It was used as a political platform for politicians to meet. It was currently under the command of Lord Xale Torpin, a rich negotiator from Corellia.

The Kultrian Collapse conflict had never been revealed to the public of the galaxy, out of fear it would fuel the fires and encourage other to join them. It had been kept a secret for 60 years, and was about to be revealed to the general public.

Xale Torpin stepped up to the hovering platform infront of the camera. Even though it only hovered a few centimeters above the ground, Xale had to keep his balance.

As he spoke out the words that revealed one of the few secrets hidden from the galaxy. He watched as the expressions on the audience changed, as he told the stories of the soldiers that had fought the cult so many years ago.

--

After going through few of the many questions, Xale left the room out of the back door. Heading off down the hallway, he sighed over the faces of soldiers that would one day be dead.

This was all interrupted when a messenger from Telos approached him, "Lord Torpin. Our mining facility on Telos has asked that the area surrounding it is evacuated. They unearthed something. Something that was hidden underneath the plains"

Xale nodded as the messenger walked away after handing him a datapad with a picture of an ancient city.

--

**Lost city of Kaloosh, Telos Excavation Site**

Wearing suits to protect from possible radiation, Joc and his team prepared to open the centuries old city that had been hidden under the surface of Telos for many generations. The city of Kaloosh was first described in data streams from before the Clone Wars.

It was used as a Republic facility where some of the best scientists in the Core was working. The last reports were that Kaloosh had been evacuated, and that the case was closed. No one ever got to know what happened, as it was soon presumed blown up by an ion bomb.

Now, over a hundred years later, it had finally been found. The doors clicked and swung up, revealing a huge circular dome filled with equiqment and furniture. As the team began to move into the facility, it became clear why it had been evacuated. Skeletons and signs of battle decorated the dark halls.

Twenty minutes after entering the city, contact with the team was lost. As a security measure, the city was once more closed off, but a station to monitor it was set up in the vicinity.


	2. The Observation & The Strangers

**Telos Observation Post, 137 After the Battle of Yavin**

Twenty years after the reopening of the city, a team of ten men were stationed outside the city. One of them being Rine Temahn, the nephew of Joc Temahn. Rine was just finishing up some of the natural readings. There hadn't been a real spike in activity for a few months now, but the last spike had caused an earthquake that killed the last team.

He noticed a small change in the frequency between the natural sonic shakes. According to newest protocol, the city was to be re-opened if there were any spikes. After pondering over it for a few moments, he pulled the yellow lever on the wall, calling together the team.

All of them met up outside his room, ready in their gear and suits. He took a good look at them, expecting to find flaws. To his surprise, he found none.

"People," he started, "We're going to re-open the city. It'll automatically seal after us, so we only have one chance to prevent another quake"

He only knew the names of four of the people. Meric He'th, a Corellian medic. Jelin He'th, Meric's cousin and the stations guard captain. N'ti, a Twi'lek engineer. And finally Kajer Sope, the storage manager. All of them trained for the operation ahead, and all of them former Navy personnel.

The other five persons were new to the team, having just been flown in during the night. They all appeared to be wearing the same symbol on their back, and seemed to take a distance from the normal personnel of the observation post.

N'ti took her blade out of it's sheath on her back. Even though it was primitive, it was perfect against all kinds of armor. She observed the unknown persons preparing to enter the city.

"Who do you think they are?", she asked Meric and nodded in their direction.

Meric just shrugged, "I have no clue. The symbol is from the old republic, so i guess they're Spec Ops"

With their attention turned at the strangers, they never noticed Rine approaching them, "I don't think it matters who they are, or what they want". Meric and N'ti both turned around, shocked by his voice.

Laughing, Rine handed a small pack to each of them, "Don't carry too much. We may need to

run abit"

--

Outside the locked gate to Kaloosh, the team was setting up monitoring equipment in case someone should find them. Meric and Jelin had already begun unlocking the gate, while N'ti was still conversing with Kajer about the strangers.

Everyones attention was turned to the gate as it slowly swung open. The dust cloud swallowed them as they entered the ghost city. After a bit of walking, the team decided to get a mapping of their position.

N'ti had already found her datapad out and begun downloading the schematics of the city, "According to this map, we're currently on the first floor. Old schematics show this should be the entrance hall. Over there," she pointed towards a grey door with dents in it, "That's medical. Behind it is an emergency lift leading down to the power generator"

Rine nodded, "All right. We'll go fix the generator", as he motioned for his team, he was stopped by the tallest of the strangers.

"Negative," he interrupted, disarming Rine, "We take it from here"

Shaking his head, Rine sighed, "I can't let you do that. We don't even know who you are"

The man simply reached into his pocket and revealed a pure Sapphire, "We're Sapphire Force. We've come to retrieve a person from here"

One of the men had already opened the door to medical, and walked in. He soon returned outside with an annoyed expression on his face, "Colonel, he's not here".

The Colonel, who had been talking to Rine, ran up to the man that had just left medical, "What? Pull down all logs from the last five years. I want to know what happened to him". He turned around, facing Rine once more.

"Who are you looking for?", Rine asked and crossed his arms.

The Colonel looked at the team behind Rine and sighed, "We're looking for codename Sapphire. It's a piece of data, so to speak. It's from decades back, before the Galactic Alliance and the Republic"

The gates were shutting, slowly killing the groups only source of light. The windows that had once been clear as crystal, were now buried below the sands and earth of Telos. The only thing keeping oxygen in the facility was it's automated ventilation. Most of it's inhabitants had been evacuated, but a few stayed behind, frozen in carbonite.

It wasn't a comfortable state, and most of them had died over time from the lack of life support. The few that had survived had perished due to the lack of food.

--

After turning on their flashlights, the group decided to continue on together. The Observation squad, and the Stranger squad, as they had named eachother, were both seeking the same goal in the end.

As the team walked down the hall between the medical facility and the lift to the power generator, N'ti noticed some of the wall paintings looked oddly out of place, and not all of the bodies were decomposed. In fact, the wall paintings looked too out of place to be natural, and many of them seemed to resemble a battle between a very downgraded stormtrooper and a wookiee.

She didn't manage to take a closer look, as they had already reached the lift.

"Listen, Temahn, your team will stay here and guard, while we go down and deactivate the generator. If anything happens, shut off the power to the lift by cutting the cables", The Colonel ordered.

Rine nodded without uttering a word, and pulled his team a few meters back to give space for the lift to close. The doors slowly shut, leaving the teams seperated with only radios to keep contact.

N'ti, Meric, Jelin, and Kajer had already begun putting up a camp in the hall, while Rine was setting up a sensor grid to warn them of any incoming hostiles. Once everything was set up, the team took turns guarding and sleeping.


	3. A Pleasant Surprise

**The Following Morning...**

The lights in the hall slowly returned, adding to the teams fears that the Strangers had failed in their task. Rine had been holding off on deactivating the lift untill now. It was obvious they had failed in their task, and that something must have destroyed their communications. Throughout the night, they had been hearing whispering from the vents.

N'ti had just returned from the medical facility, and was about to report back to Rine when the lift returned up. The whole team turned around, aiming at the lift as it slowly moved upwards. However it's contents began to reveal themselves, the team started to realise the truth. The mangled body of one of the team members, likely the Colonel, was splattered against the side of the lift.

"Sir?", N'ti asked as Rine picked removed the chip from the body's helmet.

Rine nodded, "Cut the power. We'll look for the data ourselves. If we're lucky, the rest of the team didn't suffer a tragic death"

Nodding, N'ti began cutting the power to the lift, sending it flying down into the dark, seemingly bottomless pit. There was no use in scavenging the body. It'd only slow them down, leaving them victim to whatever horrors were lurking in the city.

Jelin had begun reviewing the recording while the team began packing up, "Hey, Rine, check this out"

He showed Rine a piece of the recording, which seemed to be focused on a person in stasis. For some reason, the person seem awfully familiar to Rine, but he couldn't put his finger on who it was.

"Erase it, Jelin. It's of no use", he ordered after taking note of the stasis pod.

--

**5 Hours later...**

N'ti patted Rine on the shoulder, motioning that they should head to the right. They had to keep their voices low to not wake up whatever slept in the depths. Whatever it was, it was smart enough to use a lift and turn the lights back on.

They walked into a huge, domed chamber with a single pillar in the middle. Nothing decorated the roof, and the only floor in the whole dome was a small catwalk extending to the pillar. Jelin and Meric stayed behind in order to guard the entrance, while N'ti, Kajer, Rine, and Jelin approached the pillar.

Stepping on what seemed to be a sort of trigger, Rine suddenly froze. The side of the pillar lifted up, revealing a stasis pod. The glass was completely frozen from the temperature inside the pod, so the person wasn't visible.

Rine once again approached and wiped the glass, seeing the person from the recording inside the pod, and he suddenly remembered who he was. He had seen him before any of his team was even born.

--

**158 Years Earlier, The Pendant**

A small shuttle set down in the hangar, being greeted by 4 soldiers and their leader. The hangar bay was rarely used due to the ship being relatively new. It was only two years ago that the Empire had been formed, but it already spanned across the galaxy. Unknown to any of the ships crew, it would be encountering the Kultrian Collapse in just five years.

Rine left the shuttle followed by two senators, all of them waiting to discuss the Death Star with the then _Captain_ Noor. Noor stepped forth and bowed to Rine, "A pleasure to meet you, Senator"

Smiling, Rine began to introduce the other two senators, "This is Tirri Erovil," he motioned towards the senator to his left.

The other senator stepped forth, "Le'hem Kicelorn" he put his hand forth.

After the initial introduction, the group moved to the conference room to begin their meeting. As they walked, Rine noticed one of the newer recruits, Private Zach Kicelorn, the son of Le'hem. But before he was able to stop and talk, they had reached the room.

The meeting went well, but Rine continued to have a bad feeling about the Empire's weapon. As he was about to discuss his worries with Le'hem, they were ambushed by Noor and Zach.

Noor managed to knock Rine out, but not before he saw Zach stabbing his own father in the back. The last thing he saw before he fell unconsious was Tirri's frightened face as she was held at gunpoint by Noor.

That was the last time he would ever see Tirri and Le'hem again. Due to his importance to the Rebellion, the Empire held him captive on a research plant on Corellia. However, after Noor was killed in the explosion of the second Death Star, Rine was forgotten about.

He was preserved, frozen down, for 150 years, finally being woken up by Xale Torpin...

--

Jelin shook Rine, "Hey, Rine, wake up dude"

He looked around the room to make sure no one was waiting before he approached the pod and unlocked it. On the inside, he noticed a logo saying _Kultrian Industries_. Before he could take a closer look, Zach fell out of the pod and onto the floor, unconsious...


	4. Zach's Revelations

The team had set up camp near the generator room, waiting for Zach to wake up. It slowly became obvious what had happened in the city. All over the walls were propaganda for rivaling fations. The largest one seemingly being called _Kultrian Industries_. The posters had only been up for a few months, however.

"Zach Kicelorn was part of a special forces unit called Sapphire Force over 130 years ago. Apparently, everything screwed up when a cult called the Kultrian Collapse surfaced, and Kicelorn was presumed dead. His son, Rann Kicelorn, was killed in the following war. Kicelorn was buried in this city somewhere", Jelin explained and put down the datapad.

Turning around, Rine started at Zach, "So this old man officially died 130 years ago?"

"Officially, yes"

"Hmph... We'll see how long he stays alive", Rine turned back to the posters.

--

As Zach regained consiousness, he realised how much time had actually passed, deciding it was better to finally reveal who the Kultrian Collapse and what Sapphire Force actually was.

"the Kultrian Collapse wasn't actually a cult. It was a trick that a corporation by the name of Kultrian Industries pulled. The Galactic Alliance was never aware of the existence of Kultrian Industries, only that Sapphire Force were running around killing people. All we killed were innocent civilians. People that got in the way," Zach sighed and shook his head before continuing.

"We always knew who the mole was. Fancitti was the only person that actually did anything. He knew who we were. After the battle with Fancitti, Kultrian Industries decided it was better to call off the operation. I disappeared into the jungles of Yavin IV, and hoped to live out my days there"

N'ti put her hand up to pause him, "But why stage your death then?"

"When Rann ran off we hoped people had forgotten about us. I was officially a General, and no one knew of my relations to Sapphire Force. However, when i heard that they had formed Sapphire Force again, i knew Kultrian Industries would question me, so i staged my death. Sadly, it didn't go as planned. They found out through their spy, Amanda Erovil"

As he continued to tell his story, it became apparent that he had been trapped in a game of life and death for decades. Coming to Kaloosh was his last chance, but even here Sapphire Force had found him. Now they were all trapped in a war against the survivors of Kaloosh.

--

**Kultrian Industries Headquarters, Kaloosh**

Jarek Lane, the CEO of Kultrian Industries, was just finishing up some open contracts when the Colonel of the Sapphire Force team approached him, "Sir, we got a problem"

"What is it, Kohe?", he asked, not looking up from the datapad.

Backing off, Colonel Kohe made sure to be a good distance from Jarek, "The Galactic Alliance is here. In Kaloosh"

Jarek's eyes widened and he dropped the datapad, "Kohe, would you please... leave me?" he gently asked and waved him out.

Saluting, the Colonel walked out only to hear something smash into the metal table inside the office.

Kohe wasn't expecting what happened next. Over the hologram projectors all over the base, Jarek appeared, relaying random sentences to several people before finally appearing infront of Kohe.

"Corellian Eggs", the hologram exclaimed and disappeared. However, Kohe knew all too well what this meant. One of the first organizations in Kaloosh was a food company, the _Corellian Runner_. The sentences directed all officers to initiate attacks on the rivaling factions, despite the temporary peace.

--

Rine turned down the hallway as he heard a door opening, followed by blaster fire from both left and right, and several screams.

"Come on, we gotta move", he ordered and grabbed Zach as the team began moving to cover.

Once inside the generator room, N'ti began to initiate the shutdown procedure of the generator. If Sapphire Force couldn't see them, they couldn't hurt them.

Rine turned around to Zach, noticing he had his eyes closed, "I remember my uncle was telling me what happened here", he whispered.

"What happened here, Kicelorn?" Rine asked and approached the old man.

Zach begun explaining the events in Kaloosh.

--

**175 Years Earlier, Kaloosh**

Zach's uncle, Tin'lark Kicelorn, was finishing up a few repairs on a starfighter that had just landed in the city. Even though the city was active and alive, everyone seemed worried of something.

Head of the labaratory, Goritar J'keh, was inspecting the newest batch of samples from the Telos wildlife, "Hey, Kicelorn, can you take a look on this?" he asked and waved Tin over.

Nodding, Tin broke open the crate and looked at the vials with the red liquid in them.

"This is...?" He asked and picked one up.

"A sample of a special biochemical weapon the Seperatists are developing. Funny, though, apparently one of our spies somehow got a hold of it"

Tin put it down again, accidentally creating a crack in the side of the vial, causing it to slowly seep into the crate. Neither Goritar or Tin noticed it, and the liquid continued into the ventilation shaft where it vaporized.

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, the Captain of the Guard, Borek, was just about to finish up his food when he noticed the man infront of him had fallen asleep. He slapped him, but nothing happened. Upon further inspection, his pupils had gone from a dark brown colour to white.

"Sound the alarm!", Borek shouted and pushed the dead man off the bench. Everyone rushed out of the cafeteria, leaving only the scientists and Borek in it.

The city was put in Spectral Alert, meaning that everyone that seemed like they could be infected was to be shot on spot without any hesitation. Only Borek's Guards were cleared to know about it, so that life resumed in the city while the scientists looked for the cause.

Tin noticed that the guard patrolling in the hangar suddenly changed from a relaxed expression, to a very worried one. He was one of the few non-security personnel that knew about the Spectral Alert. Inconviently, he had caught a local disease that bore similiar effects as to the one from the cafeteria.

He coughed, causing the guard to turn his attention to Tin. As he walked, he took out his pistol, ready to kill the moment he got in range. Tin was aware of the procedure, and kept working untill he heard the guard stepping up behind him. He responded by turning around, grabbing his arms, and kicking the guard in the left leg.

Disarmed and at his mercy, the guard looked up at Tin as his expression now changed to one that was scared.

"Spectral Alert, eh? Seem's like i'll have to activate the containment shields", Tin sighed and gave the guard a knee to the side of the face, knocking him out cold.

After stripping him of his gear, Tin began moving out from the hangar and towards the main control tower. He had to activate the containment shields to prevent the guards from executing Spectral Alert.

Reaching the control tower, he noticed it had been evacuated. Pulling up a map of the virus, it showed that the virus was airborne. He had no other choice than to lock down the city. He sent a final distress signal to the Republic, warning that the city had been evacuating, preventing them from ever entering again.

To strangle the infection, he redirected the fuel from generator room to the furnace. It'd set off a massive explosion, burning up the atmosphere in the underground city. He knew he only had two escapes now; The hangar, and the reception seven floors up.

He never told Zach how he escaped, only that his plan failed. The explosion only burned up the atmosphere in the two lower levels, leaving he rest of the city unharmed. Only bright side was that the infection never spread to topside, but stayed in the city with the Kultrian Industries, directed by Borek, and the Sivil Sanctuary, led by Goritar J'keh.

--

Rine nodded, "So the third faction is what..?

Shrugging, Zach sat down, "I have no clue. Sivil Sanctuary is a cult, and Goritar was half droid, so he may still be alive. Borek was a trandoshan, but i know that he's in suspended animaton. If we want to get out of this city, we'll need to talk with Goritar, Jarek Lane, and the leader of the last party. Hopefully, Lane will give us permission to wake Borek"

The team locked down the doors to the generator room for the night, preparing to set up base before continuing their mission.


	5. Blood of Leaders

N'ti, Rine, and Meric were cutting the floor under the Kultrian Industries HQ. As they crawled up, RIne contacted Omega Squad.

"Jelin, are you ready? You're now my second in command, so i hope you'll do your part. Is Kajer in position?", he asked and looked around the room. It was covered in shadows, but guards were patrolling outside the door.

"Affirmative, Rine. We're ready to cut the power to the HQ on your signal", he responded. The signal was weak, but he caught it. He cut the power, leaving the guards outside the storage room stumbling around in the dark.

Delta, consisting of N'ti, Rine, and Meric, activated their night vision and manually opened the door. Sneaking out, Meric snapped the neck of a guard, picking him up and hiding him in the storage room. N'ti began lifting up the door to the cryo-chamber, causing the two other guards to turn towards the sound. Meric and Rine both took a guard each, knocking them out.

Entering the cryo-chamber, the team was greeted by a huge pod similiar to the one Zach was in.

"All right, Kajer. I need you to deactivate the cryo-pod now", Rine ordered and turned off the communications link.

A moment later, the pod opened, revealing a young trandoshan in it. Rine grabbed Borek and held him against the wall.

"Tell us; Where is the Sivil Sanctuary?", Rine demanded and pushed against his throat, slowly cutting off Borek's air.

Unexpectedly, Borek started laughing, "I've monitored you. I know everything about you, and who you are. But someone amongst you is plotting".

Rine was concentrating on Borek, so he didn't notice Borek reached for the knife on his back. Meric, however, did and responded by taking one shot directly at Borek's chest, killing him instantly.

"What the hell was that for?!", Rine screamed.

Pointing, Meric directed Rine towards the knife in Borek's hand. All he did was sigh and leave the room as guards entered from behind the pod.

--

**Observation HQ, Minutes Later**

Zach handed Rine a small data chip, "This is the location of J'keh. He's in the old labaratories not far from here. You can reach him through the sewage system"

Rine nodded, "N'ti, Kajer, you two will head through the air vents. Meric, Jelin, we'll head through the sewage system. Move out"

Watching as they left, Zach got up and left the room through a hatch in the floor.

--

N'ti and Kajer were well on their way through the vents when they stopped. N'ti had noticed a small hole in the ceiling where she could watch J'keh.

"Kajer, go on. I'll keep you updated from here"

He nodded and continued to crawl towards their point of exit. As he looked down, he noticed a giant chamber filled with a blue liquid. Jumping down, he landed safely on a small ledge, moving along the side untill he reached the door.

--

"Meric, i've read a few stories about Sapphire Force. One of the members, Tana Ohil, was convicted of a crime, but what was it?" Rine asked as they made their way down the tunnel.

"Obviously, to avoid killing her own relative, Amanda Erovil faked fifteen murders. Tana got out seventeen years after the death of Rann Kicelorn. It's said that she was so angry at Amanda that she lured her to Felucia, and left her for dead in it's jungles"

Rine stopped for a moment, "But what happened to her? Where did she go?"

Sighing, Meric also stopped, "According to official records, she went missing during an exploration task to this city"

The three reached the hatch leading to the Sanctuary, and began entering one by one.

"N'ti, what's your status?", Rine asked as they began cutting through the door.

"In position, waiting for your order"

Kajer broke through the ventilation shaft, landing on J'keh. As the guards lifted their guns, about to open fire on him, Rine breached the door and knocked both guards unconcious. He walked up to the half human, and grabbed his knife, stabbing J'keh in the neck, using the vibro knife to keep it in place.

He kneeled down, "If i remove this, you'll die. If i don't, you'll live alittle longer. Give us the information we want. Who is the leader of the third faction?"

Coughing, J'keh stared at Rine, "It calls itself the Globe. The third faction you speak of is the current Sapphire Force. The real one"

Before he could say anymore, Meric removed the knife from his neck, killing him on the spot.

--

They returned to the hideout only to find Zach gone, and the power generator online again. They only just managed to close the door before someone began cutting through the second one. Before they could grab their weapons, gas vented into the room, and the team fell unconcious...


	6. Daylight

Rine looked around as he ran down a long, seemingly infinite corridor. Windows to both his left and right, but none of them transparant. All of them covered in a thick layer of dust, blowing off as they slowly disappeared into the fog that was following him.

He looked over his shoulder, watching the fog swirling around, chasing him as it swallowed several of the windows. When he looked forward again, he ran into a door and smashed right through it. When he regained vision, he saw a dark figure standing in a bright white light.

The figure looked up as the hood slowly fell down, "Have you lost yourself, Zach?" it asked and approached him.

Rine looked around, "Who are you talking to?"

It simply laughed and helped him up, "Why, you of course. You're so silly. Can't even remember your own wife?"

"I don't understand. I'm not Zach, i'm Rine", he said and looked at the Twi'lek with a confused expression. As she opened her mouth, the room disappeared.

--

Rine woke up by a stinging pain in his leg. He noticed that a person clad in a dusty set of plasteel armor had stabbed his leg just above the knee.

"I see you have awakened, Rine" a voice said from behind him. He tried to move his hands, but realised they were cuffed to the sides of the chair.

His vision was still blurry, but he could make out a Sullustan standing in the shadows along with the person that had stabbed him.

"What have you," he coughed before continuing, "Done to my team?"

He could hear a pair of footsteps behind him coming closer, "Kajer and Meric are fine as long as you give us the information we need"

The voice seemed to leave out Zach, Jelin, and N'ti for some reason, but Rine ignored it for the time being.

"All right, what do you want?", he asked and tried to make a face out of the shadowy figure.

It laughed and motioned for the two other figures to leave the room.

"I'm happy you're willing to help us. You have something in your memories we need," he paused and turned his back to Rine, "We can either take it by force, or you could give it to us. Either way, you probably wont survive"

Rine shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about"

"Ever wondered why you can't remember anything before your twentieth birthday?" he asked and walked closer to Rine again.

"I... don't know. I was told i was in an accident with a shuttle"

The voice let out a loud laughter, "Lies. All of it. You're a direct clone of Zach Kicelorn. Well, of his younger person. Bred by the Kultrian Collapse to kill Fancitti. It was a pure coincidence you made it to Kaloosh, however. All that history about it, is all lies. Nothing is true"

The figure finally stepped into the light, revealing a half-mechanical face with the rest of it covered in what seemed like burnt flesh. Rine closed his eyes and looked away to avoid staring at the deformed head.

"Kicelorn did this to me. He burnt my face off with a lightsaber. And now, he even lured you to me. He's smart, isn't he?" the man bent down and grabbed Rine's head.

"Who are you, then?" Rine asked and stared at the disfigured face.

He simply laughed and let go of Rine, "Fancitti. I am the man that has lived for centuries! The invincible, undying man! Zach even had his own son kill his wife in the thought i had possessed her. She was just a pawn of the Kultrian Collapse"

He didn't manage to say much more, as the next moment a figure broke through the door and impaled Fancitti on a vibroblade. Rine recognised the person at once.

"N'ti? What are you doing here?!" he exclaimed as she freed him.

She helped him up on his legs, "Freeing you, of course. Come on, Kajer and Jelin are waiting for us in the hangar"

Rine stopped her as they were about to leave the room, "We've got to save Meric"

"What? No. Meric was the one that lured us to here!"

The same moment, Fancitti got up and charged at the two. N'ti managed to close the door, and carried the temporarily paralyzed Rine down the corridor towards the hangar. As they reached the hangar, Rine noticed Jelin standing on the ramp to a small freighter, waving at the two.

"Jump!" he shouted as the ship hovered closer to the catwalk. N'ti threw Rine over into the ship first, but before she could jump, Fancitti opened the door behind them and grabbed her. He used her as a human shield as he made his way towards the control panels.

Kajer turned the ship to face the control panels, loading the ion missiles as he took aim. He knew if he didn't fire, Fancitti would close the hangar doors and trap all of them in the hangar. Taking a last glance at N'ti, she nodded and elbowed Fancitti, causing him to get right in line of fire.

The two missiles shot right for the two, hitting Fancitti head on, vaporizing him. N'ti was thrown down from the catwalk, and killed on impact with the floor. Kajer sighed as he swung the ship around, heading out through the open doors and into the underground tunnel.

Rine fell unconcious again, and Jelin dropped into the seats. He had a feeling it wasn't over yet. And just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard a loud bang on the hull.

"Kajer, what was that?!" he exclaimed and ran into the cockpit.

Jelin was checking all of the meters, "I have no clue! It's as if something just ripped the left engine off the ship"

Turning around, Kajer found out what had damaged the ship. Meric was standing infront of Rine with a pistol pointed at his face. Kajer knew this, and swung the ship to the left causing Meric to lose balance for a moment. Jelin took a leap at Meric, disarming him.

He grabbed his vibroknife and was about to strike Meric when he was tackled. The sword was thrown backwards, into the ceiling. Being disoriented for a second, he stumbled backwards. Meric took this chance and took a shot directly at Jelin's chest. He fell over, taking a last look at Meric as he collapsed onto the floor.

Meric took the blade from the ceiling, hovering it above the unconcious Rine. Too obsessed with his assassination, he didn't notice Jelin had made his way over to the ramp. Just as the ship turned upwards, he opened the ramp. Jelin and Meric were both thrown backwards out of the ship and into the tunnels.

To Rine's luck, his shirt got stuck in the floor. The ship finally came back into Telos atmosphere. Kajer put it on autopilot and went over to the ramp, closing it as the ship returned to the observation camp...


	7. Epilogue: Remembrance of the Kicelorns

"Honor is not gained only through sacrifice, but also through courage. Rine Temahn saved the life of a single person, sacrificing his own in the progress. Those that were lost during the conflict will never be forgotten, but they will inspire new hope in recruits", Xale pressed a button andthe holograms of N'ti, Jelin, and Rine appeared.

He then proceeded to turn around, "Will you be willing to take the rank of a General in the Galactic Alliance, Kajer Sope?" he asked and held forth the ribbons of a General to Kajer.

Kajer looked from the hologram of Rine to the ribbons and nodded, "It'd be an honor, Sir"

Xale turned back to the audience, "We will name this spot the Grounds of N'ti in honor of the sacrifice she made to destroy the Kultrian Collapse. The city has been permanently sealed, and it will never be reopened again" he finished. The crowd cheered and started to dissolve.

"Good choice for a name, Sir. Rine wouldn't have approved her sacrifice. He cared way too much about her", Kajer looked at N'ti's hologram.

Xale nodded, "I'm sure he did. Their sacrifices prevented the Kultrian Collapse from regaining their power outside of Kaloosh"

Two persons were watching Xale and Kajer talking on the podium from afar.

"Do you think they'll ever find out?" he asked looking at the young woman.

"I don't. But i have been proven wrong before, Zach"

Zach shrugged and put up his hood, "What are you going to do now, Tana? You can't go back to the core again"

She sighed, "I'll continue my work on cloning technology. Despite my failure with Fancitti, you can see how i suceeded in this clone" she motioned down her self.

Both of them turned away and walked away from the ceremonial.

Back on the podium, Kajer was the only one left in the area. He closed his eyes as he pushed down the button once more, turning off the holograms. He opened his eyes again and turned around, leaving the podium for the last time.

--

**The Latosh, One year later**

Doctor C'ete Pa was finishing up reviewing old medical journals. She took a quick glance at Rine Temahns, and noticed an interesting thing in the DNA string.

"Hey, Kajer, check this out", she waved the General over and showed him the DNA.

She then took another datachip and switched them, comparing the DNA with another sample.

Kajer raised his eyebrow, "They're identical. So he wasn't a clone after all?"

C'ete shook her head, "Nope"

"What was he then?"

She turned around with a surprised expression, "Rann Kicelorn"

"Explains how he died of his wounds then. A clone would have been able to survive them, a non-clone wouldn't"

She merged the journals and put a footnote on the bottom;

_Doctor C'ete Pa: The patient was able to survive for decades through advanced gene manipulation. In the end, it was also this that took his life. This concludes the journals of the Kicelorns._

_Year 18 AGR- Year 172 AGR_


End file.
